On the Beilinson-Bloch conjecture over function fields

Abstract: Let k be a field and X a smooth projective variety over k. When k is a number field, the Beilinson--Bloch conjecture relates the ranks of the Chow groups of X to the order of vanishing of certain L-functions. We consider the same conjecture when k is a global function field, and give a criterion for the conjecture to hold for X, extending an earlier result of Jannsen. As an application, we provide a new proof of a theorem of Geisser connecting the Tate conjecture over finite fields and the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture over function fields. We then prove the Tate conjecture for a product of a smooth projective curve with a power of a CM elliptic curve over any finitely generated field, and thus deduce special cases of the Beilinson--Bloch conjecture. In the process we obtain a conditional answer to a question of Moonen on the Chow groups of powers of ordinary CM elliptic curves over arbitrary fields.